Proceedings of the 2009 northeastern recreation research symposium

3.0 METHODS
To assess the importance of sustainable practices in
health tourism, a survey was deployed to explore the role
of health tourism in Costa Rica, a country better known
as a premier ecotourist destination. Th e survey collected
information about health tourists’ socio-economic
characteristics, where they traveled, what health-care
procedures they sought, and how they assessed the
sustainability of health tourism practices as proposed by
Th e Partnership for Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria
(2008). Specifi cally, respondents ranked the importance
of criteria used to maximize social and economic benefi ts
to the local community and minimize negative impacts.
With the intention of reaching a broad audience, a
request to participate in the study was published on 5
December 2008 in the Tico Times, a weekly Englishlanguage
newspaper published in Costa Rica. In
addition, notices were posted on email distribution
lists, related medical tourism blogs, and other electronic
communications. Th e survey was open to all who were
interested in the idea of health tourism, whether or not
they had traveled abroad for medical treatment. Ninetytwo
individuals completed the survey. Some of the basic
survey data are highlighted in this report. Additional
information is available on our research website (http://
www.wsc.ma.edu/medicaltourism).
4.0 RESULTS
Of the 92 respondents, 37 (40.2 percent) had traveled
abroad for a medical procedure, 31 (33.6 percent) were
thinking about doing so, and 24 (26.1 percent) had
not traveled abroad and were not considering doing so.
For those in the last category, only basic travel data and
socio-economic information were collected; these data
are presented in section 4.5 below. For the 68 who had
traveled as health tourists or were considering doing so,
the questionnaire next asked about issues related to the
medical travel.
4.1 Health Tourism Countries
For health tourists, the decisionmaking process is
complicated. Smith and Forgione (2008) suggest that
most health tourists select a country fi rst and then a
hospital. Our research followed that model, asking
fi rst about which country or countries the respondents
had considered and then which hospital(s) or clinic(s).
Respondents had considered an average of 1.5 countries
with a range of one to eight countries. Th is low average
might refl ect confi dence in or familiarity with the chosen
destination so that other options were not considered.
Th irty-four respondents (50 percent) had considered
traveling to Costa Rica, followed by Mexico (25 percent,
17 respondents), India (18 percent, 12 respondents),
Th ailand (10 percent, 7 respondents), Panama (7 percent,
5 respondents), and Singapore (6 percent, 4 respondents).
Turkey, Cuba, Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada,
Colombia, Guatemala, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Germany,
Ukraine, and Venezuela had each been considered by
three or fewer people.
Of those who had actually selected a country or countries
to visit, 25 chose Costa Rica, 11 chose Mexico, and 6
chose India. One or two people had selected Canada,
Turkey, Colombia, Cyprus, Guatemala, Hong Kong,
Malaysia, or Singapore. Note that the survey was heavily
marketed in Latin America and the numbers here refl ect
that.
4.2 Procedures Sought
Th irty-eight percent of the travelers (n=29) had sought or
were considering seeking dental care. Mexico in particular
has a history of and reputation for off ering high-quality
dental care with 40- to 80-percent cost savings compared
to the United States (Judkins 2007). Cosmetic surgery
abroad was considered or sought by 20 percent of the
sample (n=15). Th e top destination for cosmetic surgery
was Costa Rica, which has a reputation for high-quality
cosmetic surgery (Castonguay and Brown (1993). Other
listed treatments were eye care, orthopedic procedures,
laparoscopic surgeries, and bariatric surgery. Several
survey respondents had had multiple procedures abroad.
4.3 Factors Infl uencing Travel
Twenty-four survey respondents (34 percent) said that
the media had infl uenced their decision to travel abroad
(or consider traveling abroad) for medical care. Th e use
of the Internet to “shop” for information about health
tourism has taken much of the mystery out of foreign
travel (Harvard Health Letter 2008). Recommendations
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